Flame hardening head



Original Filed Nov. 4, 1940 INVENTOR.

E'TH

Patented Jan. 23, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLAME HARDENING HEADHarry E. Spieth, Portland, Oreg.

Substituted for abandoned application Serial No.

364,115, November 4, 1940.

This application 2 Claims.

in communication with swingably mounted and adjustable water and gasjets which are readily adjustable with respect to the work being dealtwith. lhe water and gas ducts are in open com munication through asingle inlet with sources of supply of water and gas.

These and other objects will appear as my invention is more fullyhereinafter described in the following specification, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shaft mount-' ed for rotation in alathe or other machine and showing my invention in operative positionwith respect thereto.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the hardening and quenching head with afragment broken away for convenience of illustration.

Figure 3 is an edgewise view of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view through the hardening andquenching head illustrating the manner in which the jets are swingablymounted with respect to the head and adapted to be brought into and outof communication with the water and gas ducts.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail View of the water and gas jets.

Figure Z'is a side elevation of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a detail front elevation of a modified form of water and gasjets.

Figure 9 is a side elevation of Figure 8.

Referring now more particularly to the drawmg:

In Figure 1 reference numeral l indicates pieces of work being dealtwith which in this instance is a shaft centered as at 2 at one of itsends in a lathe and engaged with the lathe at its opposite end by meansof a dog 3 in the usual manner and adapted to rotate in the direction ofthe arrow applied to the shaft. The hardening and quenching head isgenerally indicated at 4 and consists of a ring having. two flat sides 5and 6 and flat inner and outer peripheries l and 8 respectively. Theinterior of the ring is formed with two concentric water and gas ducts 9and ill respectively which are in open communication with a threadednipple i i adapted for connection with a feed pipe to supply water andgas to the ducts 9 and i0.

A plurality of nozzles generally indicated at l2 are swingably mountedto the ring 4 and. are preferably equally spaced with respect to eachother. Each nozzle is swingably mounted to the ring by means of atapered shaft 13 threaded at one of its ends as at M to receive alocking nut I5. outwardly from the side wall of the ring and is suitablyap-ertured to receive a pair of hollow tubes 16 and H. The tube 16 bymeans of a duct l8 formed in the shaft i3 is adapted for opencommunication with the gas duct it). Similarly the tube I! by means ofduct I9 is adapted for communication with the water duct 9. The shaft isrelieved as at 20 and 2| at diametrically 0pposed points to providesufficient space to insure a free flow of gas or water from the ducts inthe ring to' the ducts i8 and [9. The tapered portion of the shaft I3serves as a valve with respect to the ducts 9 and I0 so that the flow ofwater and gas into the ducts i8 and [9 may be controlled by rotation ofthe shaft with respect to the ring 4.

For example, when the tubes or nozzles l 6 and H are swung inwardly tothe work being dealt with the ducts i8 and [9 are in communication withthe ducts 9 and it! and the water and gas is flowing freely through thenozzles, but when the nozzles are swung outwardly with respect to therin 4 as shown in Figure 2 the flow of water and gas is cut off by thetapered portion of the shaft l3.

In Figures 6 and 7, I have illustrated one form of nozzle whichcomprises a tip 2'12 having a single orifice 23. In Figures 8 and 9, 1illustrate a modified form of nozzle which consists of a tip 24 formedwith a plurality of orifices 25.

In hardening metal with my invention the depth of hardness is governedby the amount of heat put into the object being hardened and is Icontrolled by the amount of oxygen or acetylene supplied to the nozzleor nozzles, and by adjusting the speed at which the flame jets travel.The degree of hardness obtained depends on the rate of quenching whichis governed by the type of quenching mediumwater, compressed air,etc.and by the volume of such quenching used. A simple trial easilydetermines the correct setting for torch speed, gas flow, and

The opposite end of the shaft l3 extends rate of quenching, to securethe degree of hardness and depth of penetration desired.

The object being hardened rotates in the direction of the curved arrowin Figure 1, while the hardening head moves horizontally from one end ofthe work to the other. The adjustable mounting of the nozzles withrespect to the ring renders the device capable of applying variousamounts of flame or water to the object to be hardened. A maximumamount, of course, may be applied when all of the nozzles are swunginwardly toward the object to be hardened and each of the nozzles may belocated in any of their adjusted positions by advancing the nut l5 onthe threaded end M of the shaft l3.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention I amaware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves toothers skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Having thus described the invention, what I claim as newand desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Flame hardening apparatus comprising a ring member having water andgas ducts formed internally therein, means for connecting said ductswith sources of supply, a plurality of water and gas nozzles arranged inpairs and each pair being attached to a valve body rotatably mounted inthe ring and adapted to control communication between the ducts andnozzles, and means for locking each of said valve bodies in variouspositions.

2. Flame hardening apparatus comprising, a ring member having water andgas ducts formed internally therein, means for supplying said ducts withgas and quenching fluid, respectively, a plurality of valve-rotorsmounted in said ring member and formed with gas and fluid ducts adaptedto be moved into and out of communication with the respective ducts ofsaid ring member, and pairs of gas and fluid nozzles connected to saidvalve-rotors and communicating with the respective ducts thereof, theends of said nozzles being adjustable through arcs intersecting at thering center.

HARRY E. SPIETH.

